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9 unusual facts about Robert Zuppke


1921 Iowa Hawkeyes football team

An Illinois team of the great Robert Zuppke was the opponent.

1924 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team

Nebraska soon found a new coach, hiring assistant Ernest Bearg from Illinois, who had defeated Nebraska in this and the previous season under the leadership of Robert Zuppke.

1925 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team

Nebraska once again had a change at the top, welcoming Illinois assistant, and Robert Zuppke protégé, Ernest Bearg as the program's 17th head coach.

1933 Michigan Wolverines football team

Before the game, a member of the Michigan coaching staff expressed concern that Illinois head coach Robert Zuppke, with two weeks to prepare due to a bye week, would have a variety of tricks ready for Michigan.

Billy Laval

After the season, the school sent Laval to be mentored by Illinois head coach and football innovator Robert Zuppke, who had won the 1914 national championship.

Crack Comics

Ned Brant: a regular feature from issues #1–25 (Sept. 1942), the sports-related stories were syndicated newspaper strip reprints by writer Robert Zuppke and artist Walt Depew.

Lou Tepper

Tepper was the first Illinois coach since Robert Zuppke to win or tie both of his first two meetings against Michigan.

Robert Zuppke

Prior to coaching at the University of Illinois, Zuppke coached at Muskegon High School in Muskegon, Michigan and Oak Park and River Forest High School in Oak Park, Illinois, where he tutored future Pro Football Hall of Famer George Trafton.

Zuppke was a member of the No-Jury Society of Artists in Chicago and an acquaintance of Ernest Hemingway.



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